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Sources
 Buddhism
has a rich and extensive literature, ranging from the time of the Buddha
(oral transmission) to fairly recent times.
One cannot
speak of a dogmatic canonization: it would be more correct to speak of a
consensus, often peculiar to a specific school or current, without however
rejecting the “canon” of other schools or currents.
Of the original
Indian texts much is lost. The Buddhist scriptures are mostly preserved
in translations and/or adaptations. They are traditionally classified
into “Three Baskets” (Sanskrit: Tripitaka, Pali Tipitaka) as mentioned in
the following:
The most
important “canons” are:
-
Pali-canon,
first written down in 89 BCE in
Sri Lanka;
final redaction by Buddhaghosa (5th c.). It consists of:
Vinaya-pitaka:
Basket of the Discipline
Sutta-pitaka:
Basket of the Discourses
Abhidhamma-pitaka: Basket
of the Extended Teachings (Philosophy)
-
Sanskrit-canons:
of various schools, of which texts and fragments of texts have been
recovered, forming only a small part of the original collection.
Striking is the additional classification in sutras (discourses) and
sastras (commentaries).
-
Chinese
canon:
the most complete canon (at this moment it contains 13.152 titles!).
Contains almost all of the Sanskrit-canons in translation (dating from
the 1st c.), often in more than one version. A various
number of always larger editions exist; youngest edition in the series
is the Japanese Taisho-edition (closed in 1934).
-
Tibetan
canon:
divided in Kanjur (texts) and Tanjur (commentaries). It is
characterized by the presence of many tantric texts.
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